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Founded in 1966 by Paul Van Doren, his brother James and their mates they started selling shoes they had manufactured themselves from a small shop in East Broadway on March 16th of that year.On their first day of trading they sold 12 pairs of shoes called the number 44. This style was later renamed the Vans Authentic. A later model originally called the number 96 became a firm favorite amongst the Dog Town skate boarderssuch as Tony Alva and was later called the Vans Era. Skaters such as Steve Caballero favoured Vans shoes over others as the waffle sole gave great grip. Steve Caballero was later given his own signature shoe, the Vans Half Cab which has been a great success for Vans for over 25 years.In 1975 Steve Van Doren, son of founder Paul, started to work for the company and to this day remains and influential driving force behind the whole of Vans. Steve brings that Van Doren, Californian floral print vibe to the board room.